How to Change IP Address in Windows PC?

Every computer connected to the internet should have a unique number. This number is called IP address and used for identifying the computer and monitor the activities originating from that IP address. This will help to easily block the particular IP address whenever there are spam and malicious activities from that IP. Generally your internet service provider (ISP) will buy a bulk range of IP addresses and assign to the clients like you whenever you connected to the internet.

The dynamic IP assignment may result in multiple issues and you may not able to get the same identity every time. Setting your own static IP address is used varyingly and in different occasions. Some people do it so that their IP address remains the same and doesn’t change from time to time. Some others do it so that it’s easier to remember.

In any case, we’ll be going over how to change your IP address in Windows 10 PC to one that is static.

How to Change IP Address in Windows PC?

To begin with, you’ll need to open the “Network Connections” window. You can do this by pressing “Win + R” keys to open “Run” dialog box and then searching for “ncpa.cpl”.

Open Network Connections in Windows 10

The window should look something like below.

Network Connections Window

The “Network Connections” window will show you all available wired, wireless, VPN and LAN networks on your computer. In the above example we have an Ethernet adapter as we are connected to internet using a network cable. If you are using wireless router then you will be seeing the network name of your Wi-Fi connection.

From here, we need to right click on the active connection that we want to set an IP address on, and select properties, like so.

Network Connections Window Right Click

Once in the properties window, chose the “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)”. It should look something like this:

Network Adapter Properties

Change IP, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway

Now, double click on the TCP/IPv4 option. Because we want to actually change the IP address to something that we want, the option that you want to select in there is “Use the following IP address”. This is where we get to choose what the IP address is. Make sure that you enter an IP address that you have obtained from your ISP.

Change IP Address in TCP:IPv4 Properties

Be careful when setting your IP address though, as the values of the IP address sections can only be between 0 and 255. Otherwise, it will likely come up with error like this one:

Wrong IP Address Error Message

What we need to do next is put in a Subnet mask in the box below the IP Address. A Subnet mask, for those that don’t know, is basically something that hides your IP address and splits it into your network and host addresses. So, let’s go ahead and put that in. In most cases when you click on the section, Windows 10 will auto fill it for you.

Assign Subnet Mask IP

The default gateway section can just be left blank, because that will just be the router itself.

Remember to get a valid IP address from your ISP which is supported by all your devices including the router. Actually you can configure the static IP address on your router so that all the connected devices can have the same IP.

Assigning Manual DNS

A DNS server address is essentially something that takes domain names, or websites, and resolves them into IP addresses. Similar to IP address, DNS servers also assigned automatically by your ISP. If you like to assign manual DNS servers, all that’s left to do now is put in the preferred and alternate DNS Server addresses. So, we can go ahead and place each of those in like so.

Assign DNS IP Addresses

Remember to enter reliable DNS servers like Google public DNS since all your browsing activities will be routed through these DNS servers. Also enter both the preferred and alternate DNS server IP addresses. The alternate server will act as a backup for the preferred server whenever it fails.

Validating the IP Assignment

It is important to validate the IP addresses you entered are correct. Before clicking on the “OK” button, ensure to tick the little box in the corner that says, “Validate settings upon exit”. What this does is simple. It checks all your new IP address settings to see if they work and informs you accordingly. So that, down the track, you don’t struggle with your network connection and wonder, “why is this happening to me?”

With that done, press the “Ok” button, and then press it again on the “Properties” window. If all goes well, your computer should run diagnostics on the new IP address and give you feedback on it. If the IP address isn’t working, it will show a diagnostic tool, like this:

Networks Diagnostics Window

You can either choose to select the “Apply this fix” or choose “skip this step” option. Apply this fix meaning that it will revert your IP address settings back to what they were previously and assign them automatically. Skip this step usually results in the connection being disabled. In this case, you can then go back and repeat the steps above, but with an IP address that is supported by your ISP and router.

Due to this happening, it is recommended that you look at the related settings and IP addresses for your router before you start changing to static IP address. If your router supports the IP address and DNS server addresses, then you have just successfully created static IP address for your Windows 10 PC.

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